https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/08/drinks-bottles-now-biggest-plastic-menace-for-waterways-report
[image and links in online article]
Fiona Harvey Environment correspondent
Mon 8 Apr 2019 00.01 BST
Drinks bottles now biggest plastic menace for waterways – report
Plastic bags only 1% of plastic in freshwater after sustained efforts to
reduce their use
Plastic bottles, the detritus of our throwaway water and soft drinks
habits, are the most prevalent form of plastic pollution in European
waterways, according to a new report.
Food wrappers, including crisp and sweet packets, were the second
biggest form of plastic pollution in rivers, followed by cigarette
butts. All of these forms of litter can cause problems for wildlife and
fish, and are hard to clean up once they have found their way into the
water.
Plastic bags were found to make up only 1% of plastic rubbish in
freshwater, reflecting years of efforts to reduce their use, including
charges on them in the UK and many other European countries.
Consumers should be more aware of what they can do to prevent the
fouling of waterways, from using cotton buds with paper sticks to
binning wet wipes instead of flushing them, and bringing their own
receptacles for food takeaways, according to the Plastic Rivers report
from Earthwatch Europe and Plastic Oceans UK.
“The products we buy every day are contributing to the problem of ocean
plastic,” said Jo Ruxton, chief executive of Plastic Oceans UK. “Our
discarded plastic enters rivers from litter generated by our on-the-go
lifestyle and items we flush down toilets. This throwaway approach is
having much more serious consequences and the report shows really simple
ways to avoid this problem and stop plastic pollution.”
Although most attention on the plastic scourge has focused on the plight
of oceans, about 80% of plastic rubbish flows into them from rivers.
Many experts believe that focusing on the clean-up of rivers is the best
way to choke off the flow of existing rubbish into seas, while the
ultimate source of the problem – our dependence on throwaway plastic
products – is tackled.
The authors examined nine studies of pollution in freshwater sources
across the UK and Europe, ranking types of macroplastic – large, visible
pieces of plastic, as opposed to the invisible microplastics recorded in
water sources from tapwater to seawater – by their prevalence.
The report also excluded fishing equipment and similar litter left by
anglers, which the RSPCA recently highlighted as a major hazard to bird
life, and items from farming or industry, to focus on plastic waste from
consumers.
Bottles made up 14% of visible items of litter, with food wrappers at
12% and cigarette butts at 9%. Next came disposable food containers, at
6% of all items, followed by cotton-bud sticks and takeaway cups, at 5%
and 4% respectively.
Sanitary items, including wet wipes, nappies and tampons, were also a
major source, prompting campaigners to warn people not to flush wipes,
sanitary towels or other single-use sanitary items down toilets, where
they are the leading contributor to fatbergs in sewage pipes. Many wipes
were until recently labelled as flushable, encouraging people into a
habit of disposing of them in this way, which has turned into a hugely
expensive problem for water companies.
In England alone, about 4.7bn plastic straws, 316m plastic stirrers and
1.8bn plastic-stemmed cotton buds are used each year, according to the
government.
The EU parliament last year approved plans to ban single-use plastics,
with items such as straws, plastic plates and cutlery banned by 2021.
The UK government is still mulling how to implement plans to phase out
many single-use plastic products, a target originally set for later this
year but which may slip.
=====================================
To subscribe, unsubscribe, turn vacation mode on or off,
or carry out other user-actions for this list, visit
https://www.freelists.org/list/keiths-list